Our
ever growing collection of large unusual designer clocks, represent
a range where design, style and precision go hand in hand. We have
a fascination of eras gone by and enjoy the challenge of
resurrecting ideas of the past into homes of the future. From a
long established company who have built a reputation on designing
and manufacturing striking and unusual timepieces. They have an
ability to create unusual designs in wall clocks. Each clock is
hand made using specialist materials and finishes that sets them
apart from the crowd. These designer and large wall clocks go to
enhance your home and impart a sense of style, precision and
charm.

We
are now offering a new range that includes the option to have us
personalise your clock. We trust that this will be of particular
interest to Railway enthusiasts who will be able to have a clock
supplied with the Railway Company and or Station name of their
choice, but also to those of you seeking a unique retirement or
birthday gift.

The wall clock is one of the most influential
discoveries in the history of western science. The division of time
into regular, predictable units is fundamental to the operation of
society. Even in ancient times, humanity recognized the necessity
of an orderly system of chronology. Hesiod, writing in the 8th
century BC., used celestial bodies to indicate agricultural cycles:
"When the Pleiads, Atlas' daughters, start to rise begin your
harvest; plough when they go down" ( Hesiod 71). Later Greek
scientists, such as Archimedes, developed complicated models of the
heavens celestial spheres that illustrated the "wandering" of the
sun, the moon, and the planets against the fixed position of the
stars. Shortly after Archimedes, Ctesibus created the Clepsydra in
the 2nd century BC. A more elaborate version of the common water
clock, the Clepsydra was quite popular in ancient Greece. However,
the development of stereography by Hipparchos in 150 BC. radically
altered physical representations of the heavens. By integrating
stereography with the Clepsydra and the celestial sphere, humanity
was capable of creating more practical and accurate devices for
measuring time - the anaphoric clock and the astrolabe. Although
Ptolemy was familiar with both the anaphoric clock and the
astrolabe, I believe that the development of the anaphoric clock
preceded the development of the astrolabe.

The earliest example, in western culture, of a
celestial sphere is attributed to the presocratic philosopher
Thales. Unfortunately, little is known about Thales' sphere beyond
Cicero's description in the De re publica: For Gallus told us that
the other kind of celestial globe, which was solid and contained no
hollow space, was a very early invention, the first one of that
kind having been constructed by Thales of Mileus, and later marked
by Eudoxus with the constellations and stars which are fixed in the
sky.

This description is helpful for understanding
the basic form of Thales' sphere, and for pinpointing its creation
at a specific point in time. However, it is clearly a
simplification of events that occurred several hundred years before
Cicero's lifetime. Why would Thales' create a spherical
representation of the heavens and neglect to indicate the stars? Of
what use is a bowling ball for locating celestial bodies?
Considering Eudoxus' preoccupation with systems of concentric
spheres, a more logical explanation is that Thales marked his
sphere with stars, and Eudoxus later traced the ecliptic and the
paths of the planets on the exterior. The celestial sphere in
question probably resembled this early Persian example.

Perhaps the most famous celestial sphere is the
mechanized globe attributed to Archimedes. Cicero was especially
impressed by this invention because of its ability to imitate "the
motions of the sun and moon and of those five stars which are
called wanderers" with a single rotational focus (Price 56). By
turning a crank, one could observe the "natural" course of the sun,
moon and planets around the earth. The sphere was also remarkable
for a second reason. Unlike a stationary globe, like that of
Thales' and Eudoxus, a mechanized sphere requires gears to
accurately represent the motion of the heavens. According to Prof.
Derek Price, the mean period of Saturn can be mechanically
represented by a gear ratio of 30 to 1. In other words, for every
revolution of the sun around the earth, Saturn will only accomplish
1/30th of its revolution around the earth. The mean period of
Jupiter can be represented by a gear ratio of 12 to 1, and Mars can
be represented by a gear ratio of 2.5 to 1.

An interesting problem arises when one attempts
to mechanically represent the synodic month. A gear ratio of 235 to
19 is required for an accurate representation. However, this is
impossible to achieve directly, presenting a serious challenge to
Archimedes and other Greek scientists. Prof. Price claims that two
different gear arrangements can be used to create this ratio.
First, one may simply use a more intricate combination of gears, as
Archimedes did in his mechanical sphere. The second solution is one
of the greatest innovations in Greek engineering; the development
and incorporation of a differential gear. In addition to having
been the first mechanized globe, Archimedes' sphere became a model
for later Greek astronomers. For example, Posidonios of Rhodes, a
contemporary of Cicero, built a mechanical globe based on
Archimedes' sphere. Members of the school of Posidonios created a
device to compute the positions of the sun and the moon--what we
now call "The Antikythera Mechanism." Challenged by the same,
mechanical difficulty Archimedes faced in representing the synodic
month, these scientists developed the first differential gear to
solve the problem. Archaeological evidence suggests that after the
Antikythera Mechanism was lost in a shipwreck, the differential
gear essentially disappeared from western knowledge until 1575,
when it reappeared in a globe clock designed by Jobst Burgi. The
differential gear later became a critical component of the cotton
gin, a late 18th century invention that marked the beginning of the
industrial revolution. However, devices such a the Antikythera
Mechanism were quite rare. The celestial sphere was the most common
form of celestial representation, prompting a number of structural
modifications.

Because of the difficulty in imagining the
position of the earth within a solid representation of the heavens,
the celestial globe assumed a more skeletal appearance over time.
This new model of the heavens, the armillary sphere, quickly began
to replace the more ambiguous celestial globe. However, the method
of locating celestial bodies remained the same. Greek astronomers
continued to use an ecliptical system for specifying the position
of the stars and planets. To understand how this system works it is
first necessary to explain a few terms, and to remember that we are
assuming that the earth is in the center of the universe--we are
using a geocentric model of the universe. The ecliptic measures the
annual rotation of the sun around the earth, and is inclined 23deg.
from the celestial equator. It is not a representation of the daily
rising and setting of the sun. The Greeks divided the ecliptic into
twelve sections, and each section was named after the constellation
it contained--Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra,
Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pices respectively.
The ecliptic, divided in this fashion, is called the zodiac. The
Greeks further divided each of these twelve sections into thirty
units, effectively graduating the entire circle for longitudinal
measurement (30 multiplied by 12 is equal to 360). The system began
at the vernal equinox, the intersection of the ecliptic with the
celestial equator in the constellation of Ares, and completed a
360deg. circle around the circumference of the celestial sphere.
The Greeks used the ecliptical to measure a star's horizontal,
angular displacement from the vernal equinox. Vertical, angular
displacement was measured by constructing a graduated circle
perpendicular to the ecliptical. If you are completely confused by
my written description, take a look at the diagram I have created.
Ecliptical coordinates were used by Hipparchos and Ptolemy in their
star catalogues, and were the standard of celestial measurement
until the Renaissance, when they were replaced by the equatorial
coordinate system. The equatorial coordinate system is identical to
the ecliptical system, except that it uses the celestial equator
for horizontal measurement instead of the ecliptic. Because the
celestial equator is simply a projection of the earth's equator,
the equatorial coordinate system is analogous to terrestrial
longitude and latitude, and provides a more accurate system of
measurement. This 17th century armillary sphere is graduated for
both ecliptic and equatorial coordinate systems -notice how each
sign of the zodiac contains thirty degrees of the circle.

Measuring time on an armillary sphere is a
simple matter. First, imagine that you live on the earth's equator.
From this position, the ecliptic is almost a perfect arch over your
head. As the earth rotates, the sun will rise and set in a
twenty-four hour period. Please remember that this is not the
ecliptic - the ecliptic will only determine where, on the horizon,
the sun will rise and set each day. In antiquity, every day is a
complete rotation of the sun around the earth. Time may be measured
simply by dividing this rotation into twenty-four hours. If the
rotation is a circle of 360deg., dividing it into 24 sections
results in hours that are 15deg. long. In other words, if we know
where the sun will rise on the horizon, according to the ecliptic,
every fifteen degrees that the sun travels across the sky marks the
end of an hour. Given a constant source of motion, it is possible
to create a clock - an accurate representation of the heavens, from
an armillary sphere. Although the Greeks had the means of producing
the necessary motion, the shape and intricacy of an "armillary
sphere clock" may have prevented rigorous experimentation until the
development of stereography.

Until the development of stereography by
Hipparchos in the middle of the second century BC., the Greeks
measured time with various types of water clocks. The most simple
water clock consisted of a large urn that had a small hole located
near the base, and a graduated stick attached to a floating base.
The hole would be plugged while the urn was being filled with
water, and then the stick would be inserted into the urn. The stick
would float perpendicular to the surface of the water, and when the
hole at the base of the urn was unplugged, the passage of time was
measured as the stick descended farther into the urn. These early
wall clocks were used when equal measurements of time needed to be
established. For example, if two orators were to be allotted the
same amount of time to speak before an assembly, a water clock of
this nature would have been constructed for the occasion. In the
second century BC., a man named Ctesibus created a more elaborate
water clock for measuring the time of day. The Clepsydra, as it is
called, consisted of four major parts: a vessel for providing a
constant supply of water (B), a reservoir and notched floatation
rod (F), a display (G), and a device for adjusting the flow of
water into the vessel (D). Water was continually poured into the
vessel (B), with the overflow escaping from a pipe (I). Water
flowed from this vessel into the reservoir at a constant rate. As
the reservoir filled with water, the floating, notched rod ascended
at a constant rate. This rod was attached to the display (G), which
indicated the time of day. The Greeks divided the day into twelve
hours of unequal length to insure an equal division of day and
night. Because the Greeks divided the day into hours of unequal
length, it was necessary to include a device (D) to regulate the
flow of water from the vessel (B) into the reservoir (F). By
raising the flat, circular cap in the conical vessel (B), the flow
of water could be increased, decreasing the length of an hour. In
the summer, the day is longer than the night, and in the winter the
reciprocal is true. Therefore, in the summer, the clock would be
adjusted to extend the length of each day hour. A second way the
Greeks standardized the length of a day was by modifying the clock
display. A cylinder with sloping hour lines was used instead of a
circular face. The mechanism worked as follows: as water collected
in the reservoir, a pointer would raise as the cylindrical display
rotated. In this manner, the pointer would gradually trace the
course of the adjusted hours on the cylindrical display. However,
the former example, the circular face, is more important because of
the modifications made to it after the discovery of stereography by
Hipparchos.

Stereography is a technique by which three
dimensional objects are projected on two dimensional surfaces.
Hipparchos used stereography to create a projection of the
celestial sphere from its southern celestial pole to its equatorial
plane. In other words, he created a two dimensional image of a
three dimensional model - a planispheric projection of the heavens.
By separating the projection of the stars and the ecliptic from the
projection of the horizon and the equator, Greek scientists could
simultaneously represent the progression of the sun along the
ecliptic and the daily rotation of the sun around the earth. In
essence, by separating the two projections scientists recreated the
rotational components of an armillary sphere on a two dimensional
surface. By incorporating these two planispheric projections of the
sky into the display of a clepsydra, the Greeks discovered a way
for providing the constant source of motion necessary for an
accurate representation of time. Recall that an armillary sphere
can be used to tell time because it allows one to divide the daily
rotation of the sun around the earth into 24 hours, with each hour
equal to 15 degrees of the complete rotation. The problem with
keeping time on an armillary sphere is that a constant source of
motion is required for the sphere to mimic the actual motion of the
sun around the earth. By using stereography, scientists were able
to project the armillary sphere on two disks--the first provided
the means for measuring sun's position in the sky, and the second
disk illustrated the sun's actual path across the sky. There are
two advantages to having the heavens projected on two disks, as
opposed to a single sphere. First, it is easier to construct a two
dimensional model than a complicated sphere. Second, it is easy to
provide constant motion for two disks by using a clepsydra. By
incorporating planispheric projections of the heavens into the
clepsydra, the Greeks created the first anaphoric clocks.

The anaphoric clock consists of a rotating star
map behind a fixed, wire representation of the meridian, the
horizon, the equator and the two tropics. The fixed disk consists
of several concentric circles, divided into twenty-four sections by
a series of small arcs. Each section represents one hour of the
day. Because the long arc extending from one end of the disk to the
other is the horizon, the first hour of the day begins on the right
side of the disk at the horizon. The twelve hours of the day are
above the horizon, and the twelve hours of the night are below the
horizon. A stereographic map of the ecliptic was attached behind
this fixed representation. Although circular in shape, the ecliptic
did not rotate around its center. To accurately represent the daily
path of the sun, the ecliptic rotated around a point approximately
halfway between the center and the bottom edge of the circle. The
ecliptic would complete one rotation around this point every day.
Furthermore, the ecliptic was fashioned with 365 holes around its
circumference, one for every day of the year, in which was placed a
peg to represent the sun. The year began at the vernal equinox, and
after each daily rotation of the ecliptic the peg would advance to
the next hole along the perimeter of the ecliptic. However, the
ecliptic was reset each day so that the peg always began at the
horizon. The anaphoric clock was both a clock and a calendar,
illustrating the both the time of day and the progression of the
sun along the ecliptic.

A second product of stereography is the
astrolabe, a device for locating the position of the stars at any
point in time. The astrolabe consists of three major parts: First,
there is a fixed disk called a tympanum on which one can measure
the position of the stars. The tympanum is an engraved plate,
making it easier to use than the wire mesh of the anaphoric clock,
but because the position of the horizon differs from place to
place, each astrolabe typically contained a number of tympanum.
Only one tympanum was used at a time, and the inclusion of several
tympanum insured that the astrolabe could be used at a variety of
positions on the earth. Second, a skeletal projection of the
stars--called a rete--was fastened over the tympanum. The third
primary component of an astrolabe is a simple device for measuring
the distance of a star above the horizon--usually a rod attached to
the back of the astrolabe. One could produce a map of the sky on
any given night by locating a known star, measuring its angular
distance above the horizon, and rotating the rete until the
representation of the star was aligned with its angular distance on
the tympanum. During the Renaissance, the astrolabe was also
included in clock designs such as this one by Janus Reinhold.

The evolution of the anaphoric clock depended on
several hundred years of Greek science. Thales' crude, spherical
representation of the heavens laid a foundation for other Greek
scientists to build on. After the construction of the first
celestial sphere by Eudoxus, Archimedes created the first
mechanical representation of the heavens using a complicated series
of gears. However, armillary spheres were more commonly used to
study the heavens. Shortly after the construction of Archimedes'
sphere, Ctesibus built the first clepsydra. Although it is possible
to observe the time on an armillary sphere, it is quite difficult
to perpetually mimic the motion of the sun around the earth. The
invention of stereography by Hipparchos made the construction of a
dynamic representation of the heavens possible through the
combination of planispheric projections with the clepsydra. The
anaphoric wall clock and its cousin, the astrolabe, not only helped
Ptolemy create the extensive catalogue in the Almagest, but also
established the foundation of modern time keeping.

Please do contact
us to learn more about our Railway Clock project launching
Spring 2011. It will represent the largest choice of Station Clocks
available on-line.

UPDATE: 9th February
We now have the finished samples of the reproduction railway clock
cases and are busy checking our various components fit and function
to perfection. Various finishes are being applied to the cases
ready for photography.